United States Navy
The United States Navy is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. The U.S. Navy consists of more than 300 ships and over 4,000 operational aircraft. It has over half a million personnel on active or ready reserve duty. The Navy is part of the United States Department of Defense.
The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established on October 13, 1775 by authorizing the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. The legislation also established a Naval Committee to supervise the work. All together, the Continental Navy numbered some fifty ships over the course of the American Revolutionary War, with approximately twenty warships active at its maximum strength.
After the American War for Independence, Congress sold the surviving ships of the Continental Navy and released the seamen and officers. The Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1789, empowered Congress "to provide and maintain a navy." Acting on this authority, Congress ordered the construction and manning of six frigates on March 27, 1794 and in 1797 the first three frigates, USS United States, USS Constellation and USS Constitution went into service.
The War Department administered naval affairs from that year until Congress established the Department of the Navy on April 30, 1798.
See History of the United States Navy.
The names of combat ships of the U.S. Navy all start with USS, meaning 'United States Ship'. Non-combat, civilian-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy have names that begin with USNS, standing for 'United States Navy Ship'.
The U.S. Navy uses a letter based Hull classification symbol to designate a vessel's type.
Modern large ships use nuclear reactors for power. See United States Naval reactor for information on classification schemes and the history of nuclear powered vessels.
(See List of ships of the United States Navy for a more complete listing.)
These are the major strategic arm of the Navy. They put U.S. air power within reach of most land-based military power.
History of the U.S. Navy
Development of modern U.S. Navy power
Naval culture
Navy sailors are trained in the core values of Honor, Courage, Commitment. Sailors cope with boredom on long cruises of six months to a year, and cherish their time in their home ports, as well as vacations at ports abroad.Naval jargon
A distinct dialect of English has developed amongst sailors over the course of the last four centuries. Naval jargon is spoken by American sailors as a normal part of their daily speech.
There are three distinct components of Naval jargon:
Common Naval Jargon
Fleets
The 2nd Fleet, Atlantic
The Second Fleet is responsible in peacetime for training the Atlantic battle fleet in war-fighting skills, developing and evaluating new naval tactics and maintaining theater battle group readiness. Second Fleet operates primarily in the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the South Pole and from the shores of the United States to the west coast of Europe. It also operates along both coasts of South America and part of the west coast of Central America. In all, it covers more than 38 million square miles. The US Second Fleet is a part of US Atlantic Command. Based in Norfolk, VA, Second Fleet has USS MOUNT WHITNEY as the fleet flagship. The force consists of a balanced mix of capabilities including aircraft carriers, surface combatants, submarines, surveillance assets, amphibious forces, marine landing and mobile logistic units.
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) on November 3rd 2003. Crewmembers and their families are participating in a flag unfurling rehearsal, during a cruise in the Pacific for the crew's relatives. Approximately fifty aircraft can be counted on deck.
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The 3rd Fleet, Central and Eastern Pacific
The main task of the Third Fleet is to patrol and to control the waters of the central and eastern Pacific. In peacetime the Third Fleet has no ARG and the carriers in the area are on their way to the Seventh Fleet or conduct training cruises after an overhaul for example. The Third Fleet hadquarters are Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.The 5th Fleet, Middle East
Fifth Fleet maintains a visible deterrent force in the Arabian [Persian] Gulf area. The Fifth Fleet was initially established 26 April 1944 from Central Pacific Force, and disbanded after the war. In the era of the first Gulf War, the region was patrolled by ships from the East and West Coasts, but no defined fleet existed. By July 1995, the course of events made a new numbered fleet necessary. After a 48-year hiatus, the US 5th Fleet was reactivated and it now cruises the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea. Its headquarters are in Manama, Bahrain. These forces normally consist of an Aircraft Carrier Battle Group (CVBG), an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), surface combatants, submarines, maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, and logistics ships.The 6th Fleet, Mediterranean
6th FleetThe 7th Fleet, Western Pacific and Indian Ocean
Seventh Fleet, established during World War II, is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with 50-60 ships, 350 aircraft and 60,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel. The Seventh Fleet, with the support of its Task Force Commanders, performs three major assignments:
Of the 50-60 ships typically assigned to Seventh Fleet, 18 operate from U.S. facilities in Japan and Guam. These forward-deployed units represent the heart of Seventh Fleet. The 18 permanently forward-deployed ships of the US 7th Fleet are the centerpieces of American forward presence in Asia. They are 17 steaming days closer to locations in Asia than their counterparts based in the continental United States. It would take three to five times the number of rotationally based ships in the United States to equal the same presence and crisis response capability as these 18 forward deployed ships. On any given day, about 50 percent of Seventh Fleet forces are deployed at sea throughout the area of responsibility. The Seventh Fleet Command Ship is the USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC 19), forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.Submarine warfare and nuclear deterrence
Four F/A-18 Super Hornets assigned to the "Black Aces" of Strike Fighter Squadron Forty One (VFA-41) fly over the Western Pacific Ocean in a stack formation. Taken October 25th 2003
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Ships of the U.S. Navy
Notable ships
Aircraft carriers
Amphibious assault ships
Submarines
These are the other major strategic arm of the Navy as they can be used directly to control naval and shipping activity by other powers as well as serving as missile-launching platforms.
Battleships
Cruisers
Frigates
Destroyers
Others
Early vessels
Weapons systems
Naval aircraft
Notable members of the U.S. Navy
Related articles
Naval bases
External links
